U-N-I Ch. 27

"Fuck, Tom!" Rob exclaimed.

"Rob, don't worry. If we pull the gig and the crew work through the night, we can bring the local luggers back in early, we might buy ourselves enough time to at least get the instruments and sound rig to the airport."

"Okay, but how...," Dylan said and Tom interrupted him again.

"I've got local lawyers working on proof of possession papers to file with the local courts first thing as a pre-emptive strike. I'm not sure it'll be enough but if the wagons are rolling before the administrators have a chance to lay their claim, we might have the opportunity of getting everything and everybody out of the country."

"Hang on, there's no way anything's going to happen at this time of night. I mean, these things don't happen after close of business, do they?" Damon exclaimed.

"Trouble is lad, it's not after close of business in New York where the backers are based," Tom replied.

"Bollocks," Jordan spat.

"How long before the audience is all in?" Rob asked quietly.

I could tell by his tone and the look on his face that he was putting some sort of plan together but I couldn't begin to think what it was.

"Half an hour I'd expect, why?" Tom asked in reply.

"Well even if things do go belly-up in New York, they're the biggest part of a day behind us and by the time places openthere, everythinghere will still be closed so the lawyers here will still have the opportunity to file whatever's needed here," Rob responded - I was starting to think I could tell what Rob was up to.

"Our U.S. lawyers are working on it already and they're liaising with the legal firm in Tokyo but I still want to cover all the bases," Tom informed us.

"Nope, not doing it," Rob told the room in general, "I say we do the gigbut to cover Tom's bases we get the guitars, piano and drums off-stage literally as we leave it."

"Do you think that can work?" I asked.

"Yeah, Nick," he said to him, "as soon as Mark and me use a guitar for the last time, you can get it in its case - Jord, bring your bass off with you, Nick can have its case ready. If needs be, we'll find a way to get them to the hotel at least."

"Sure," Dylan put in, "the keyboard's got to be the next quickest to wheel out, what's that take two or three guys?" he asked.

"Yes," Rob answered. "The rest of the stage techs can concentrate on dismantling the drum-kit, ok. It'd be great to get as much of the back-line out as possible as well, some of those amps are old friends," he chuckled mirthlessly.

Tom nodded,

"Yes, okay. After that they can have the stage and lights. Mind you, they'll have to explain to LiteFX why they've nabbed something that we've only hired."

"We havenever cancelled a gig since the first time we set foot on a stage and I amnot doing it now," Rob all but growled, "Tom, come and let me know when you're told the audience is in."

Tom looked at the rest of us and we let him know we agreed with Rob.

"Nick, I think I'll need your help with something," Rob said to him.

"Whatever I can do," he replied.

We were all in a subdued mood as our techs left to do their jobs and we to wait to do ours - I wondered if any of us would be able to lift our spirits enough to do it well. Nick, Rob and I made our way to the scene of our nearly-threesome in silence.

"So tell me what you have in mind, what can I do to help?" Nick asked Rob when we got there.

"Just a sec," Rob replied as he riffled through my bag.

When he'd found what he'd been looking for - my notepad and pen - he began to explain his idea,

"Tom's got people doing all the legal stuff but I think we've got something better."

This part of what he'd been thinking back in the meeting was beyond me.

"What?" I asked, giving him a puzzled look.

"Our fans!" he exclaimed. "I say we use our fans to gain the moral high-ground. We ask them to post on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, wherever, that if the money men succeed in impounding our stuff, we'll have to cancel the rest of the tour and disappoint all those other fans. Well with Nick's linguistic skills we can ask them," he looked pleadingly at him.

"Umm, Rob I can't teach you how to say all that in Japanese, there just isn't time."

"I don't want you to, I want you to translate for us, please."

Nick thought about it for a moment then nodded.

"Good, now we've got some writing to do and we got to do it quick. Hopefully, it'll also bring the situation to the attention of the insurance company faster, I reckon they'll be all over it as well."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, after needing a replacement guitar tech, then the stomach bug this is the third and biggest problem this tour's had."

"Jeez, I hadn't thought about that. Why did you ask Tom about the audience?" I asked Rob.

"Because we, to quote Tom, are making a pre-emptive strike of our own. We're telling the fans before we go on. Let's get something down on paper then we can ask the others what they think."

We didn't get the chance to write a single word, a moment later Jordan walked in closely followed by the others; none of us said anything for a long moment, it was Rachel who broke the silence,

"For what it's worth my opinion is that you made the right call Rob."

"Cheers Rach, and to clarify, your opinion's always valued," they smiled briefly at each other.

"Rob's had another idea. We were about to make a start on it and then see what you think," I said and we began explaining Rob's plan to them.

They all understood quickly and we were soon putting pen to paper. Nick put in some ideas to make it easier for him to translate it and by the time Tom joined us we were all set.

"We need you to let the sound guys know we'll be on stage in ten minutes and we'll need two mics," Rob told him, "oh, and a couple of white follow-spots on the C-stage'll be enough to go with them, the camera crew'll need to get us up on the screens as well."

"What're you up to?" Tom asked suspiciously.

"Tom, my friend," Rob draped an arm around our manager's shoulders, "you do what you do and leave what we do to us. We'll be there in," Rob made an exaggerated motion to look at his wrist where there was no watch, "nine minutes."

"Alright, alright, I'll tell them, but whatever you're planning, I don't like it," Tom chuntered as he turned to leave the room, already reaching for the radio at his hip.

--

"Good evening," Rob began after we'd all walked to the C-stage.

It had been hard to not acknowledge their cheers of greeting but we'd all decided that it was the only way to start our fans thinking that something serious was going on. Consequently, a hush had already begun to come over the audience, starting with those closest to the stage who'd been the first to see us appear from behind the stacks but who'd quickly realised that we weren't about to perform for them, before we reached the C-stage.

"We have been blessed with some of the most amazing fans in the world," Rob continued then paused to give Nick time to translate, "and tonight we need to ask for your help."

Little by little, Rob and Nick outlined the situation to the audience. Before long there was a sea of cameras recording the moment; at the end of it somebody shouted something in Japanese and we all looked at Nick.

"Roughly translated, he said they'll have to get past us," he told us off-mic.

Before taking to the stage, we'd all posted on our own and the band's Twitter feeds and moments after Rob stopped speaking, we'd begun getting notifications that we'd had responses - lots of them! Jord held up his phone to show the crowd the lit screen,

"Keep them coming guys, let's make this big, huge," he said into Rob's mic with Nick adding an impromptu translation.

A cheer began with those nearest to us, and like waves on a shore, flowed to the back of the stadium.

"We'll see you soon," Rob told them simply.

This time as we walked along the runway style B-stage back to the main one, we waved and smiled to our fans, once there we jogged from it.

Even though we knew the groundswell of support for us was building rapidly on-line, we still intended to follow Tom and Rob's plans to make a start on getting our personal gear from the venue as quickly as possible after the gig was over.

In the end, it had been the instant and overwhelming support of our fans, not just in the audience but around the world, which had got us back on track for kicking out a spectacular gig.

"Thank-you Japan, goodnight and farewell, we love you!" Rob called as the last chord of our final encore died away, "please never give up and believe in love!" he continued and we all waved as we left the stage at our normal pace, but once we were hidden by the stack to the right of my stage position, we all grabbed the cases in which Nick had already stowed mine and Rob's guitars. Jordan packed away his bass and as soon as he was done, we hurried to the exit.

Tom had arranged for the crew bus to be waiting for us; it was big enough to hold everything we needed to get away from the stadium except Dylan's piano.

We all helped stow our gear in the surprisingly large cargo spaces and inside the coach - it felt like we were back in our early days when we were our own roadies; by the time everything was on board we were all laughing like crazy, it was as if we were in some mad film about a heist.

We cheered and clapped as the coach swung out of the car-park and onto the road beyond, heading to our hotel; the second phase of Tom's plan was that after dropping us off, the driver would head to the freight terminal at the airport where he'd wait for the lorry carrying Dylan's piano, the fold-back equipment and the flight cases for our instruments and amps.

We were due to leave the country at lunchtime the following day, next stop South America with two gigs each in the cities of La Plata, Santiago, Lima, Sao Paulo, Rio, Bogota and Mexico City before playing Europe again, starting in Barcelona. After that it would be Canada and North America for the seventh and final leg of the tour.

--

Still with me? the votes say that you aren't so please vote if you are still reading, let me know. I hope you like the Nick story line and catching up with the boys. I've written six chapters so there are three more to come. Again, there are no Covid-19 in their world.